{"id":19970,"date":"2017-02-06T00:00:54","date_gmt":"2017-02-06T04:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=19970"},"modified":"2017-02-06T12:02:04","modified_gmt":"2017-02-06T16:02:04","slug":"california-regulators-sued-allowing-increased-use-toxic-fumigant-without-public-input","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2017\/02\/california-regulators-sued-allowing-increased-use-toxic-fumigant-without-public-input\/","title":{"rendered":"California Regulators Sued for Allowing Increased Use of Toxic Fumigant without Public Input"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, February 6, 2017) California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) rules that allow greater use of the highly toxic fumigant Telone, while decreasing protections for the public, have been challenged in California court. On January 31, attorneys representing Juana Vasquez, a farmworker in Ventura County, along with Californians for Pesticide Reform (CPR) and Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA), filed suit<\/a> in the Superior Court of California against the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR). The suit claims that CDPR failed to follow required public procedures in developing new rules for 1,3-Dicholopropene<\/a> (1,3-D), which is an active ingredient in the product Telone and has many documented health risks, including cancer<\/a> and kidney and liver damage.<\/p>\n

In October 2016, CDPR released new rules<\/a> that allow the continued use of Telone and decrease protections for public health by permitting increased usage. CDPR and many news outlets reported the rule change as a tightening of the restrictions, but in reality, the new rules increase the previous annual cap from 90,250 pounds to 136,000 pounds per township, a defined area of 6\u00d76 miles. These new rules went into effect on January 1, 2017, allowing for 1,3-D\u2019s continued use in strawberry fields, vineyards, almond orchards, and other crops around California.\"\"<\/p>\n

According to a press release from PANNA<\/a>, the lawsuit charges that CDPR approved the new rules for Telone without allowing for public notice, giving an opportunity for public comment, and providing a response to comments. It also claims that CDPR violated a state law that requires collaboration with scientists from the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to develop health-protective rules. OEHHA expressed concerns regarding the sufficiency of the new rules, \u201cincluding revised application limits and air concentration standards to protect nearby residents and workers from cancer risks.\u201d The plaintiffs call for a new process that complies with state law, including revised regulations that are based on the recommendations of OEHHA.<\/p>\n

\u201cState officials ignored science and shirked public oversight as they ensured the continued and potentially expanded use of this cancer-causing pesticide,\u201d said Natalia Ospina in a statement to PANNA<\/a>, an Oxnard-based attorney with California Rural Legal Assistance representing the farmworker plaintiff. \u201cThis blatant regulatory failure continues to put rural and farmworker communities in harm\u2019s way.\u201d<\/p>\n

1,3-D is a federally restricted-use soil fumigant used to kill nematodes, insects, and weeds. The use of the chemical in the production of strawberries came into prominence with the forced reduction of another fumigant, methyl bromide<\/a>. Scientists became concerned about methyl bromide in the 1970\u2019s, when it was linked to ozone depletion. Methyl bromide is still widely used in California to grow strawberries, despite its ban under the Montreal Protocol, but it will no longer be eligible for a critical use exemption after 2016. This phasing out of methyl bromide stimulated another class of toxic fumigants, which includes Telone.<\/p>\n

In time, 1,3-D was revealed to be no better than its predecessor, raising concerns about the public health and environmental risks associated with its use. A 2014 publication by the Center for Investigative Reporting, Dark Side of the Strawberry<\/em><\/a>, revealed that increased use of 1,3-D results in unsafe levels of the chemical in the air and that decisions behind 1,3-D monitoring and application rates are fraught with industry manipulation and risk reduction work-arounds. A 2016 case study<\/a> out of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) looked at three fumigants– Telone, chloropicrin, and metam salts<\/a>\u2014 and found that:<\/p>\n